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TORONTO -- Jaromir Jagr has impressed NHL great Mark Messier for more than a quarter of a century.When [Jagr] came into Pittsburgh he dazzled us with his power and his skill and his overall game, Messier said. Later on in his career hes kind of inspired us with his passion and dedication. Hes played long enough to understand what the game means to him as a person and as a player.Poised to be overtaken by the 44-year-old Jagr for second place on the NHL points list, Messier reflected Thursday on the Czech stars accomplishment in what has become increasingly a young mans game.The only way you can play, and do what hes doing right now, is to make sure you are putting in the time for your conditioning and taking care of yourself, Messier said. The game has to be the No. 1 priority in your life because it takes a lot of time to prepare each and every game, let alone each and every season. Youve got to give Jaromir a lot of credit for what hes been able to do early in his career, and then maybe even more credit for how hes been able to sustain himself.Jagr has six goals and 10 assists this season for the Florida Panthers.Messier, who passed Gordie Howes point total of 1,850 for second place in his final NHL season back in 2003-04, finished with 1,887 points. Jagr grabbed third place from Howe in March and has 1,884 after assisting on a goal in Floridas 4-3 shootout loss at Winnipeg on Thursday night. Wayne Gretzky holds the record with 2,857.Im still the most surprised person that I have been sitting at No. 2 for this amount of time, Messier said on a conference call. I didnt really consider myself an elite scorer like a Mario Lemieux or a Wayne Gretzky. I never considered myself that kind of player. It was quite humbling for me to be passing some of those names on that top 10 list. I actually couldnt believe it.Jagr joined the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990 and won two Stanley Cups alongside Lemieux. He has gone on to play for seven more NHL franchises, but also spent three seasons in the KHL, where he amassed 146 points.Messier scored his 1,887 points in 1,756 NHL games, while Jagr has suited up 1,660 times in North America.This is kind of anticlimactic for me in a way, Messier said. I understand the amount of time he put in overseas. In my own mind he surpassed me a long time ago.Jagr has mused about playing until the age of 50. Messier retired at 44 -- the same age Jagr is now -- and said theres no sign Jagr is slowing down.Hes still hustling to get the puck and retrieve the puck, said Messier, who spent half a season as Jagrs teammate with the New York Rangers. Hes still covering a lot of ice when hes out there. Hes still very powerful.His down-low game, his cycle game, I dont know if theres been anyone ever better. As a superstar you think of a dynamic, open-ice player that can beat you one-on-one. He does that ... [just] in smaller areas.Messier has occupied the top of the points list with Gretzky, his friend and teammate with the Edmonton Oilers, for more than a decade, but added theres nothing bittersweet about Jagrs inevitable move into second.To be anywhere in that top echelon of players is incredible, Messier said. I look at it as an opportunity for me to pass the baton on to Jaromir and hopefully now with the rest of the players to inspire the next generation. Cheap Jerseys From China . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Cheap Football Jerseys . - After leading the Saints to a fourth playoff appearance in five seasons, Drew Brees expressed confidence in the direction of his team and, perhaps more importantly, showed a willingness to listen to contract proposals if the team needs his help getting under the NFLs salary cap. http://www.wholesalechinajerseysfootball.com/ . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. Wholesale NFL Jerseys Authentic . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Wholesale China Jerseys . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. The 10 schools that make up the Big 12 are bound together by a deal committing their television rights to the conference through the 2024-25 school year.That grant of rights ends with the expiration of the conferences $2.6 billion television contract with Fox and ESPN. The question hanging over the Big 12 has always been: When that TV deal runs out, will the conference end, too? Will Texas and Oklahoma, the conferences flagship programs, remain satisfied with being the Big 12s big dogs, or will they seek potentially sweeter deals elsewhere.Expansion wasnt going to change that, so the Big 12 declined on Monday to add two schools from a group of 11 that included BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Connecticut. The conferences leaders then tried their best to put forth a unified front and positive outlook for the future.No ones looking to walk away from this conference, said Oklahoma President David Boren, the chairman of the Big 12s board of directors. Any feelings to the contrary is just mistaken. They dont understand the strong commitment that we all have to it.Claiming commitment is nice. A legally binding contract is better, but until the Big 12 starts negotiating another television deal or a revision to the current one, locking up the conference beyond 2025 is not a discussion that is taking place, Boren said.When the appropriate proposal is on the table, well be able to go to the open market at the appropriate time and I think negotiate very successfully, Boren said. I think the product of that will be cooperation from all of our schools.The Big 12 still has much to figure out in the near- and long-term.First up, the 10-team conference with a nine-game round-robin schedule must decide how to best implement a football championship game, which returns in 2017. Almost all available solutions are square-peg, round-hole conundrums, but the conference thinks it needs the game to better its chances at the College Football Playoff and raise more revenue.The addition of the conference title game gives the Big 12 an opportunity to open discussions with Fox and ESPN and increase the annual payout from the networks by about $25 million per year.Boren and Commissioner Bob Bowlsby declined to address reports that ESPN and Fox are willing to consider extending the rights contract and buyout a clause that called for a large increase in rights fees if the conference expands.A Big 12 cable network is not on the horizon. As Boren said, the market has spoken and it has said no. But cable is not what it used to be and having a network does not necessarily mean putting games on television.I still wish and hope someday, who knows which form of technology it will take, we will perhaps someday have a branded conference network of some kind, Boren said.The Big 112 paid out $30.dddddddddddd2 million to each of its members this year, a record amount and third most among Power Five conferences. Still, long-term projections have the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference pulling away in the revenue race from the Big 12, Pac-12 and Atlantic Coast Conference in the coming years.Bowlsby said figuring new ways to generate more is one of the conferences top priorities.But I dont know that theres anybody thats demonstrated a direct correlation between the amount of money spent and the number of championships that you win, Bowlsby said. I guess it would be fair to say that wed not like to get 10 or 15 years henceforth and find out if there was a delta, there isnt any way we could fix it and it would make a difference in how competitive we were. But we reside in very fertile recruiting grounds. We have great coaches. We have great venues and great traditions. I think were always going to be concerned about revenue.Revenue is not necessarily a problem for Texas or Oklahoma. According to USA Today, Texas brought in more than $183 million last year, second most in FBS among public schools. Oklahoma was eighth at $134 million.Texas and its Longhorn Network have been a source of tension in the Big 12 and helped drive some schools away. Despite the Longhorns recent struggles on the football field, there is not a conference in the country that would not open their doors to Texas. The Pac-12 already tried to lure the Longhorns away unsuccessfully once. Texas is one of the few schools that could probably make football independence work in the way Notre Dame does.I look forward to working with Commissioner Bowlsby, chairman Boren and the other conference members to make the Big 12 even stronger in the years to come, Texas President Greg Fenves said in a statement.Oklahoma doesnt quite have Texas star power, but the Sooners would not have much problem finding a home, either. Sooners fans have made it known they are ready for a change and it was Boren that helped make the Big 12 seem unstable by pushing the need for expansion.On Monday, though, it was Boren touting the Big 12s unity and unanimity when it came to not expanding. ESPN reported Tuesday that those were agreed upon talking points.I think we all left the room feeling a much stronger sense of commitment to the conference, commitment to each other, that all of us are Big 12 people, were proud to be part of this conference, and we want to always be a member of this conference as far as were concerned, Boren said. We want to see it be all it can be.At least for eight more years.---Follow Ralph D. Russo www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP Cheap Authentic Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys China Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Store China Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys China NFL Hoodies Cheap Authentic Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China Camo China NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China ' ' '